Ten Most Fascinating Websites

The making of this top list was a slow and gradual process that gave me a lot of pleasure. The ten websites listed here differ greatly in theme and structure, but one thing they do have in common is that they stand out with their amazing concept and design, stretching the limits of digital culture and internet art.

Having stumbled upon them while surfing the net, and being the obsessive label-er that I am, the only tag I could think of was “fascinating”. And that is big coming from someone who doesn’t get fascinated easily. So naturally, I made a new folder in my Favorites, titled “Fascinating”, and decided I was going to publish this list the moment it gets 10 entries. That moment, dear friends, has arrived. I hope you’ll enjoy it.

Oh, and by the way, most of these websites are built with rich flash animation, so make sure you have fast internet connection when you check them out.

Designed by David Clark, this website is an interactive collage of philosophy and art, a poetic film based on the life and work of Ludwig Wittgenstein, an influential Austrian philosopher. Based on 88 interactive flash animations that correspond to 88 constellations of the sky, this is a map of coincidence and relativity through which you can navigate and explore the poetic narratives that play with free associations. It is a story of Wittgenstein’s life told in fragments, and brought to life in contemporary digital culture.

This is another creation of internet artist David Clark, and similar in that it is also a collage of interactive fragments, a mind map of clues that signal a mystery that may or may not be there. All I know is that the search itself is worth the time.

Concepd is much more than a website. It is meant to be a “websight”, providing the user with a totally visual experience, a journey for the mind and the eye, spread between digital and physical worlds.

If you were ever curious about space travel, here is your chance to experience it in real time. This is an ambitious online project backed by the Space Program of John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum. The website is divided into 11 stages containing animation, archival photos, video and mission audio that bring Apollo 11 to life.

Designed by Fredo Viola, New York based multimedia artist, this is an extensive interactive collection of his music and video art work. It is a blending of 21st-century electronics and the human voice presented via multimedia visuals. For a quick preview of Fredo Viola’s work, see this clip.

99Rooms is a unique internet art project that interweaves wall painting, photography, animation and sound, made by Kim Koester, Richard Schumann, Stephan Schulz and Johannes Buenemann. It will take you on a journey through 99 hauntingly beautiful rooms, all set on vacated premises of East Berlin’s industrial zone.

Kubrick’s Space Odyssey 2001 is a cult movie, probably one of the highest regarded films ever made. If you are one of its many fans, you will love this website. It is an interactive multimedia presentation that aims to explain the meanings of the four parts of the film. Available in many languages.

Music lovers will love this fun website. It is a retro futuristic project for the OnProduction company in Russia. In essence, it is an innovative, interactive flash game that lets you play and create music online.

Superpositions is an interactive audio-visual collage made with night tripping, urban explorations, cycle machines… Created by Remy Rivoire, Renaud Vercey, and Bruno Voillot, it is a virtual journey based on random games and clues. The interaction can be very dynamic or contemplative, both attitudes generating a distinct perception, a new sound, a new picture.